Friday Five

From willsmama and RevGalBlogPals

And so I offer this Friday Five with 5 quick hit questions... and a bonus:

1) Your work day is done and the brain is fried, what do you do?

Is a pastor's workday ever done? If my brain is fried, then I usually sit with my laptop and trash tv. I'll do sudoku from indigopuzzles. If my brain is not so fried, I might read. I try to read a bit before I go to sleep anyway.

2) Your work week is done and the brain is fried (for some Friday, others Sunday afternoon), what do you do?

Friday is a wonderful day for me. I never, never, never work (unless I'm doing a funeral or something on Saturday). It's a day for me and relaxation. Today I'll go swim sometime this morning (if I get moving that soon), then because it's a nice day, I'll begin to fertilize my plantings and lawn for fall and I hope plant bulbs. I'm trying to do a project of some sort every Friday. I may go out to dinner or catch a movie, I haven't decided.

3) Like most of us, I often keep myself busy even while programs are on the tv. I stop to watch The Office and 30 Rock on Thursday nights. Do you have 'stop everything' tv programming or books or events or projects that are totally 'for you' moments?

Nope. I even have the laptop on my lap when I watch 30Rock. Actually I usually watch 30Rock on the laptop because I forget when it's on. On the totally for me, that's Friday. All day. I highly recommend it.

4) When was the last time you laughed, really laughed? What was so funny?

This Friday Five is scary: making me think about changes I need to make in my life. I think laughing was during Read This and Burn (or whatever the title of the Clooney/Pitt comedy this summer or early fall). I like going to movies by myself because then I don't embarrass anyone with my laughter. I laugh at things that don't strike other people as funny. I obviously need to laugh more, particularly at my lovely, but rigid, older congregation. (Did I say they are inflexible?--this is why I do yoga--I don't want to be that inflexible when I get old.)

5) What is a fairly common item that some people are willing to go cheap on, but you are not.

I like really good food. When I go out to eat, I don't go to Applebees or Outback. I do like PF Changs and California Pizza Kitchen (none of the latter in Memphis yet), but other than that, it's mostly local really good restaurants. When I'm on a tour (which I try to avoid), I will whenever I can eat at local restaurants instead of the tourist restaurants that tours (even the best) go to. It is really frustrating to me that I have a very hard time convincing people to come with me, even though they are complaining about the food. In fact, that's something I don't understand. People on tours will complain, but when given the option to do something to make it better won't. When I was in Iran, we camped out three nights (sleeping on the ground). We were told that we would be given mattresses. We were, but they were about an inch thick. So, when we were in a small village, we went by a mattress shop with foam mattresses about 3 inches thick. My son and I bought one each and a pillow each. The total price was $15. We tried to get folks to go to the store and buy a set and no one else would. Boy, my son and I slept so well. We gave the mattress to the bus drivers who were pleased to get them so they had something nice to sleep on (there as a space under the bus where they slept; I think it might have otherwise been a baggage area).

Bonus: It's become trite but is also true that we often benefit the most when we give. Go ahead, toot your own horn. When was the last time you gave until it felt good?

One of the things I miss about being a pastor is that I don't regularly volunteer. Before I started chemo, I was volunteering at a hospitality house for homeless people. When I started chemo, I stopped because I just didn't have the energy and I needed to avoid people two out of the three weeks. I haven't made it back because I'm still trying to get my work life organized. I do need to go back there.